


Movie Night

by Manu



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash, Unbeta'd, inktober prompts, personal fictober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-07-27 11:09:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16217798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Manu/pseuds/Manu
Summary: Personal "Fictober" challenge of takingInktober's promptsand writing something short for each and posting them daily. Ships, fandoms and everything else will vary. Patently unbeta'd.Day 5: chicken





	Movie Night

**Author's Note:**

> Personal "Fictober" challenge of taking [Inktober's prompts](https://twitter.com/inktober/status/1035886145173745664) and writing something short for each and posting them daily. Ships, fandoms and everything else will vary. Patently unbeta'd.
> 
> Day 5: chicken

“Butter or caramel?” asked a cheery voice behind Nico.

“Huh?” he replied, shifting his gaze away from the supermarket employee offering free simples and stunning good looks. He was a greeted by a no less pleasant picture.

Jason’s shy and friendly smile sent Nico’s heart into momentary overdrive; even after years of seeing him on the regular, Nico had to be ready when encountering it. Nico sighed and tried to recompose his usual scowl. Once that was done, his brain finally registered what was being asked.

“Popcorn,” Jason said, confirming his brain’s suspicions, holding up one bag on each hand, offering them to Nico.

“Whatever’s fine,” Nico slurred with a bored yet somewhat friendly shrug. Nico had mastered the language of shrugging.

Jason blinked and seemed to sigh inwardly, smile never faltering.

“I wonder if there’s buttery blue ones,” he muttered, his eyes looking back to the aisle behind him. “Or we could just get, like, food dye, maybe?”

“Sure.”

“Oh, come on, what’s gotten into you?” Jason said, putting back the popcorn. “Do you really hate horror movies that much?”

 

 

“I just really can’t think of anything lamer,” Nico was saying animatedly.

Jason smirked at him from the driver’s seat. Rain was starting to fall. He turned the wipers on.

Nico continued: “I mean, we’ve all seen what true horror’s like. Some of us have been repeatedly in the actual underworld, in the actual part of it where the torturing happens even! I’ve raised actual zombies! Why watch something fake, intending to scare us and nothing else, made by hacks who I’m sure have never experienced anything scarier than other lame horror movies? Are we just going to pretend for almost two hours that it’s actually scary?”

“That’s the plan,” Jason replied when Nico stopped for breath, his voice chirpier than ever.

Nico eyed him suspiciously, then he looked in front of him, seemingly puzzled by the water hitting the windshield and the wipers, well, wiping it off. His hands went to the seatbelt crossing his torso. Realization dawned on him.

“You got me ranting,” he said, defeat and accusation in his voice.

“Yup.”

 

 

“Sorry, didn’t realize I was acting that moody,” Nico said. They were at Percy’s building, waiting for the elevator. “Enough to make you pull out the anti-monosyllabic secret weapon.”

“It’s fine,” Jason said, his smile finally gone. He pushed the elevator’s button again. He looked to the side, distaste in his face. “Come on.”

“I’ll try to get into it all and enjoy myself. I mean, I do like popcorn at least,” Nico continued, following Jason up the stairs.

 

 

Halfway there, they stopped for breath and put down the bags from the supermarket.

“I swear I never got this winded on any quest. Stairs are evil. Maybe I’ll suggest carrying grocery bags up some stairs and then the bags ripping and everything falling down to the very bottom as the new punishm--What?”

“What you said earlier, before your stairs rant, in the one on horror movies.” Jason looked much less out of breath than him. His considerable pecs did move up and down faster than usual, which was nice. “So, you have never actually seen one?”

“No,” Nico replied, his eyes still locked on Jason’s chest and refusing to look away. That was one tight sweater…

“Then how do you know you don’t actually like them? How do you know they’re lame?” Jason’s amusing and disproportionate agitation—his face was a mask of concentration and consternation, he apparently and thankfully hadn’t noticed his creepy staring—finally made Nico look up.

“The advertisements I’ve seen looked dumb,” Nico shrugged.

Jason rolled his eyes.

 

 

“We’re the last ones,” Jason deduced by the noise coming from inside Percy’s apartment.

The door opened, and their grinning host greeted them with a smile.

“Bro!” Percy said half-hugging Jason effusively. “Lil’ bro!” he said once he noticed Nico.

Nico just let the full-on hug happen. Percy smelled pleasantly like the sea, which helped. Inside, Piper and Jason were already wrapped around each other, kissing; bags forgotten at their feet with their contents spilling out.

 

 

He helped Annabeth to get everything ready. “Everything” consisted of preparing the popcorn in Percy’s battered and dangerous-looking microwave, but still felt nice to help. He took a bag of popcorn and saw that Jason had indeed found salty blue-colored ones. Percy cheered once he saw the big bowl full of it. Hazel giggled at him, surrounded by Frank’s beefy arm; both already cozy in an armchair. Reyna and her date looked on the proceedings mildly amused. Reyna smiled at Nico. Next to a beaming Jason, Piper was sitting atop the kitchen counter, one hand on a bowl of popcorn and the other on Jason’s strong shoulder. Annabeth rolled her eyes at Percy with a smile. Something nagged at Nico.

 

 

Once the movie was ready to go and everyone was finding their seats. Nico realized what was bothering him.

Given that sitting with Reyna was out since her date had already done so in the other armchair, he intended to sit next to Jason but Percy had rushed to sit next to his bro and Piper. Annabeth of course followed him. Percy opened his arms, hugging his girlfriend’s and Jason’s shoulders, looking content. They filled the big couch.

Nico, feeling a ninth wheel, sat on the big, fluffy, soft, carpet-pillow-…thing on the floor. It was supremely comfortable and he didn’t mind seating there per se. What actually seemed to bother him the most was a certain absence.

“Hey, where’s…?”

On cue, the doorbell ringed. Nico sprang up to open the door. An absolutely drenched Leo was on the other side of it.

 

 

Nico sat on the bed, looking at Percy’s bedroom wall. A disparate collection of posters adorned it. He was examining a Power Rangers poster when he saw, out of the corner of his eye, Leo emerging from the bathroom. He turned around.

“Ugly maroon or dreadful green?” Leo asked. He was shirtless and holding two old sweaters from Percy.

Nico stared for a quarter of a second at Leo’s skinny frame and plains and angles of brown skin. There was some sort of wiriness to him that prevented one to judge him as a weakling. Leo’s impish, playful face was framed by dark brown curls that right now looked curlier than ever.

“The ugly one,” Nico said, once the quarter second was over.

Leo put on Nico’s pick without hesitation. Nico gulped when Leo’s face was covered by the sweater’s fabric. His heart wasn’t beating any faster, everything in the crotch area was at ease, he more than managed to formulate a clear, rational response in what he judged was an appropriately short amount of time. So, what was going on?

Leo wasn’t hot. He wasn’t ugly by any means but he seemed plain when one saw him next to his more striking friends. Nico had all that pretty clear in his head. He wasn’t attracted to the guy. It was more like he felt… intrigued. He thought back to his creepy staring at Jason earlier. God, he was very gay. And very in need of some.

“Hey!” Leo said, snapping his fingers in front of Nico’s face and making him jump. “You left us for Halloween Town for a second there, Jack Skellington.”

Any sort of intrigue or curiosity left Nico’s head all at once. He swatted Leo’s hand away from his face, huffing.

“Come on, spooky time,” Leo urged him, unfazed. The door to the hallway was barely swinging open and Leo was gone.

Nico stood up and realized two things: he had gotten lost when thinking about Leo, and now was about to sit next to the guy for nearly two hours.

Fucking horror movies.

 

 

Nico readily admitted to himself that the move was technically well made.  Not that he was any kind of film expert but he could still somehow tell. Nothing egregiously dumb had happened yet in the ten minutes the movie had been on.  

The popcorn was good too, as far as popcorn went. However, what wasn’t good about it, at least peripherally was hearing Leo’s constant munching of it next to Nico. This, along with his bouts of laughter at whatever he, Piper, or Percy were saying about the movie were kind of grinding his gears. So, Nico tried to tune them out. He made a face and refocused on the movie. This rapidly proved to be a mistake.

The film’s atmosphere soon began encroaching him. The eerie music, the creeping dread in the dialogue’s pacing, the slow and methodical progression of the plot, the ever creepier and creepier revelations dropping in, all of it—aided by the incessant rain, lightning and thunder outside—helped distract Nico from Leo’s… everything. He almost forgot he was in the room next to him. The downside of it, however, was how utterly disarmed Nico had become.

The movie’s soundtrack had quieted down. Nico was totally immersed now. Which is why it was no surprise that the next second, right on the scare chord, Nico demonstrated the most perfect reaction to a jump scare. Most humiliating, it had been the fake-out kind of jump scare; nothing bad had actually happened. His awareness of the rest of the world came back somewhat. Some of his friends had also jumped but, unlike him, they were laughing about it, already cracking jokes to relieve any tension.

He tried to join in, but his heart couldn’t stop hammering in his chest. He laughed along with the others, nervously, at whatever Percy had said.

When everyone quieted down, he had no choice but to direct his attention back to the movie. He steeled himself this time, tensing up his whole body, for whatever else was coming. He was now determined not to let the film get to him again.

Which, of course, it did.

The next jump scare, this time actually a sudden, non-telegraphed one, made him knock over some of his popcorn. Also, this time, the scored didn’t mellow right after. The tension ramped up. This was no fake-out.

Fucking horror movies.

Nico was completely and hopelessly sucked in. He felt legitimately worried about the fate of the characters. He had totally bought the creepiest concepts and ideas, and his mind was racing to fill in the gaps with the darkest implications it could think of. His breathing became shallower…

“You okay?” a voice whispered next to him.

Leo was talking to him, concern on his face. Nico nodded almost out of habit. Leo looked skeptical. He did not press further, but kept on checking on Nico discreetly out of the corner of his eye.

Nico’s body was aching slightly, already resenting the stress and tension. His discomfort only abetted his growing terror. He was honestly beginning to feel a little ill, and yet his pride did not let him leave the room.

It was Leo’s loud, incessant munching what brought him back to himself. Nico’s initial annoyance turned to reluctant thankfulness. He clung to the frankly disgusting noise, and started to try to put some distance from the movie, to still be interested by the plot but not get affected by it. Of course, he had been aware none of it was real or even plausible; he wasn’t a little kid. That hadn’t seemed to matter a few minutes ago when he was.

Then a whispered, light-hearted commentary on the movie, courtesy of Leo, began.

Nico turned to his side. Leo put another alarmingly large handful of popcorn into his mouth and took a sip of his drink. He winked at Nico. Nico gave him a thankful and embarrassed half-smile. He scooted closer to his friend.

Nico joined in on the commentary. Leo provided the funny, he provided the actually insightful thoughts. Or so he liked to think. The rest of their friends didn’t seem to notice. They were too busy still mocking the movie, absorbed in the movie like Nico but less pathetically so, or making out with their respective dates. Reyna was very much in the latter category. Nico smiled at that.

The climax of the flick arrived, and Nico couldn’t help but tense up again. But it was a pleasant tension, a manageable stress that felt both welcome and easily discardable. Leo noticed only the tension, Nico thought; because, next thing he knew, Leo was putting his hand reassuringly over his. Nico did not protest or clarify that he was fine, nor he made any attempt to swat it away.

The movie ended. Their hands separated as soon as Hazel turned on the lights.

 

 

“Sorry for being such a chicken,” Nico was saying, while Leo was cleaning up their mess on the floor. The rest of their group had dispersed around the apartment, leaving them alone.

“Dude, it’s okay,” Leo shrugged. A good shrug, Nico thought.

Outside, the rain was calming down considerably.

“Jason told me this was your first horror movie, like ever?” Leo continued, understanding and incredulity on his face. Nico nodded. Leo whistled. “We shouldn’t have started you on with that one, then. I was kind of freaked out myself. All the jokes were me just coping,” he added with a laugh.

“I should’ve prepared myself for it or something,” Nico said, half-joking half-serious.

“Yeah…” Leo agreed, closing up the trash bag. He offered to throw the rest of the trash the rest of them had collected.

Nico accompanied him outside. The elevator did work this time.  

“Do you want to practice?” Leo asked suddenly, midway to the ground floor.

“Huh?”

“Horror movies,” Leo clarified quickly. “Throw some softballs at you, build up tolerance. Unless you don’t want to and you could just avoid horror forever. That’s hashtag valid too,” he added with haste.

Nico blinked. Leo had avoided Nico’s gaze during that whole spiel. He appeared fidgetier than usual, zipping his now dry hoodie up and down. It was adorable. The elevator’s doors opened and they walked to the dumpsters outside.

“Sure,” Nico said, on their way back. He breathed in the clean, post-rain air. “Whenever you have the time.”

Leo’s face lit up.

“Good, it’s a d--…” he said and stopped. “I mean, that’s great, because I hear this movie has a sequel.”

Nico threw him a murderous look.

“Joke, joke…” Leo said, his hands up. “Told you I joke when I’m freaked out and I was about to say the word date.” He closed his eyes, instant regret visibly washed over him.

Nico thought he was very much looking forward to freak out Leo some more.

“Fucking horror movies,” Leo said under his breath.


End file.
